City Government
Woodings Only REAL Winner In Boise Election
November 7, 2017 
WOODINGS
Incumbent TJ Thomson tallied 47% of the votes for seat 4 in his four-way race while Lisa Sanchez surprised the GUARDIAN with 44% in a five-way race for seat 2. While some might call their respective victories “landslides,” both Sanchez and Thomson failed to get a majority of support from voters.
In fact, when viewed through the lens of the “big picture,” neither Sanchez nor Thomson got the support of even 10% of the registered voters.
With all of the 88 precincts reporting, the turnout was a mere 20% of registered voters.
After a similar series of crowded races some 15 years ago, City Councilors passed an ordinance requiring a runoff election between the top two vote-getters if a majority of votes cast were not obtained by one candidate.
Former Councilor Dave Eberle won a race against Paula Forney in the only runoff election and Eberle promptly introduced an ordinance to repeal the majority rule. That ordinance was passed, bringing us back to “minority rule” with 8% being considered a landslide.
You can see election details HERE.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Nov 8, 2017, 6:44 am
The only bright note is that Frank Walker lost.
Unfortunately the citizens of Boise are doomed to have yet another two years of high taxation and high spending on frivolous projects.
Nov 8, 2017, 8:39 am
Until the Boise City Council changes the seats to represent geographic districts the majority of Boise voters will continue to lose.
The lack of geographic districts shows the selfishness and arrogance of the current Council and how they retain their “we know more than you do” attitude.
Nov 8, 2017, 8:42 am
Stack the deck with at least two insiders on every seat – that way you get who you want on the council.
Nov 8, 2017, 9:53 am
I’d say Bieter was also a winner. Apparently the people (at least those who cared enough to vote) are satisfied with the status quo. The daily paper’s website has a photo of an ecstatic Woodings getting a hug from His Honor, the mayor. (Perhaps he would’ve hugged the victor, no matter who it happened to be.) She also identified herself as a former president of the North End Neighborhood Association… it’s nice that those folks finally have a seat at the table. (Hahahahahaha!)
Looking forward to a ride on the trolley to the new downtown stadium!
The daily paper identifies Sanchez as “a well-known community activist.” I don’t know her, but I doubt her activism was centered on austerity with hard-earned taxpayer dollars. (On the bright side, she’s probably not a disciple of “growth at all costs,” either.)
I voted. My candidates lost.
Nov 8, 2017, 9:55 am
Surprised and saddened voter turnout was so low. Appreciate getting a better understanding of the numbers. Thanks to our Guardian!
Nov 8, 2017, 10:21 am
And doomed to another year of closed doors when citizens ask Council members for a chance to meet and discuss concerns.
Nov 8, 2017, 10:59 am
Ya’ll are so petty. Only “real” winner. Sure. Keep telling yourselves that.
Nov 8, 2017, 11:01 am
How frivolous? Why was Frank Walker a problem? Voted to spend money? Many questions here.
Nov 8, 2017, 1:17 pm
Congrats to Lisa Sanchez and Holly Woodings!
No surprise here.
I met Ms. Sanchez some time ago and was very impressed. I knew then, she would be in Idaho politics in some way.
Low turn-out is not a surprise either. Pathetic, yes, but not a surprise.
As to many candidates, that is how we got our current President- too many candidates in the primary. So it only takes a small percentage of the population to influence the outcome- even idiots are allowed to vote.
Nov 8, 2017, 6:17 pm
We can manage banking and purchases via the internet in a very secure manner. Attend classes. Nearly every national security secret is stored on a computer with internet connections (this is why China’s new airplane looks like ours). We control power grids with internet. And so many more examples!! So, no reason we can’t vote via the internet as well. There’s a way to do it securely and fairly. Crazy idea? They said that about going to the Moon. Yes, we can figure out a way.
Beyond simple elections we could hold numerous referendum sessions each year via the internet to eliminate much of the work currently performed by these misbehaving ‘representative’ bodies. Just imagine the corruption (and wild hooker parties) we could prevent by eliminating the power of the individual representative to negotiate. I suspect it would also increase citizen participation above 20%. The most pleasing aspect is the professional politico would need to get a job and return to the spouse each night.
This idea makes politicos as nervous as Trump’s twitter access, for the same reasons. Direct citizen contact.
Nov 10, 2017, 8:30 am
Here is a comment from Dist 17A State Rep. John Gannon: Thank you for winning Lisa Sanchez and thank you for your strong efforts Naomi Johnson and for your work Caleb Hansen. And thank you to all others including other winners. But these three particularly publicized Bench issues, such as the fighter jets, lack of a bus system, an indifferent attitude in planning decisions including the demolition of our schools, and stadium concerns. Your many visits and willingness to connect with us resulted in a high turnout by Bench voters. The Bench is not “workforce housing”. It is a place where real people live, work and recreate. It’s a place that we call home. That’s why Lisa’s vote exceeded 50% in some precincts. Let’s work together as a City, which means including everyone and every neighborhood before decisions are made.
Nov 12, 2017, 2:51 pm
I hate seeing the vote split in so many directions. I also, don’t think a runoff elections changes much other than costing candidates more money.
Off year elections are a reflection of the apathy of people who live and work in these communities. I do not understand how people can forego voting when there are so many ways to vote via early voting, absentee voting and election day voting. How much easier do we make it for these sloths?